(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The latest edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup, being held in Doha, saw a record amount of 39 goals scored during the 12 group stage matches.
The first round had the fewest amount of goals at 10. Three of those goals were in Iraq's 2-1 win over Qatar, while the United Arab Emirates scored three in their win over Yemen, and four came from Kuwait's 3-1 victory over Saudi Arabia.
The second round's goal tally rose to 13, thanks mainly to Qatar's big 6-0 win over Yemen. The number increased by 16 goals in the third round, with six goals scored in Qatar's thrilling 4-2 victory over the UAE. Bahrain matched the scoreline in its victory over Kuwait, while Saudi Arabia beat Oman 3-1 in their final group match.
UAE's Ali Mabkhout is the lead goal-scorer so far with five in this edition, and 13 in all the Gulf Cups. He is five goals away from equalling the record set by Kuwait's Jassim Yaqcoub. Qatar's Abdulkarim Hassan and Akram Afif are joint second with three goals each.
The previous two editions of the Gulf Cup saw 22 goals scored each in the group stage, with the one before them seeing a total of 25 goals in the group stage. The third round of the current edition is also the highest scoring round in the history of the competition, breaking the previous record of 13 scored during the 17th edition.
Qatar's Afif and Hassan most prominent stars of group stage
With so many goals scored, several players from the four semi-finalists put up outstanding performances during the group stages of the tournament, most notably the players of the Qatari national team Afif and Hassan.
Afif celebrated a historic day on Monday, after being named AFC Player of the Year 2019, and scoring two goals that led Qatar to their 4-2 win over the UAE and qualify for the semi-finals.
Afif had also scored a goal in the second match against Yemen, and also succeeded in the big-scoring game by making a perfect assist to his teammate Almoez Ali.
Afif's continental award win came about after his starring role in Qatar's Asian Cup triumph earlier this year.
Afif, who plays for Xavi-coached Al Sadd on loan from Villarreal since 2018, provided 10 assists in seven appearances as 2022 FIFA World Cup hosts claimed their maiden Asian Cup title in the UAE.
The 23-year-old saw off competition from Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand and Japan's Tomoaki Makino for the award, which was also won by his Qatari teammate Hassan in 2018.
For his part, Hassan continued to prove that he is the most prominent left-back on the continent, playing a dual role in defence as well as attack.
Hassan scored a hat-trick in the second match when Qatar beat Yemen 6-0.
Hassan was the youngest player to appear in the 2011 AFC Champions League at 17 years old, coming off the bench against Esteghlal. His team subsequently emerged winners of the Champions League that year.
He was awarded Young Player of the Year in the 2012-13 Qatar Stars League. It was announced in June 2017 that Al Sadd had loaned him to Belgian First Division A side Eupen.
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